Weekly message from John Lynch, Finance Director

I hope you have been able to enjoy some of the fantastic weather we have been having.

I see from the media that the Mayor of London has proposed moving the GLA from its current City Hall site near Tower Bridge to Docklands in a move that could save £55m.  I suspect many organisations will be looking at their property requirements in the current climate and asking themselves do they need such space?

John Austin and I took part in a virtual South West Regional Meeting last week which was excellent. Some great information exchange and brilliantly facilitated and chaired by Libby Johnstone from Wiltshire Council.  The next two virtual Regional Meetings I know of are London on the 2nd July and the Eastern Region on 17th July.

A reminder that the LGA is holding three webinars as part of its consultation on the recently published draft Code of Conduct. They are free to Councils. See details below. You will see that it’s open to members and officers as well as whole councils.

Consultation webinar on the LGA draft Model Member Code of Conduct

Wednesday 29 July 2020, 11.00am – 12.00pm

This webinar is one of a series of webinars that will provide attendees with the opportunity to find out about the background and reasoning behind the drafting of the consultation version of the LGA’s Model Member Code of Conduct. Attendees will be invited to ask questions, give their opinions and make suggestions for alterations to the draft code. The views from these webinars will complement the online consultation questionnaire the LGA is undertaking on the consultation draft Model Member Code of Conduct. We would like to encourage members and officers to participate.

During the webinars, we will also reflect on how COVID-19 has impacted on how councillors undertake their role. As more communication is taking place remotely and online between members and residents, particularly through social media, there may be more difficult and heated discussions as some seek to express the fear, frustration and heightened emotions they are experiencing at this time. However, abuse, threatening and intimidatory communications continue to be unacceptable, and we have sought to address these issues in the draft code.

Speakers include:

  • Cllr Marianne Overton MBE, LGA Vice-Chair
  • Paul Hoey, Co-Director, Hoey Ainscough Associates
  • Thelma Stober, Head of Legal Services, LGA
  • Abigail Gallop, Senior Policy Adviser, LGA

This webinar is also being run on 30 July 2020 and 5 August 2020

This is a virtual Zoom webinar. To book a place please follow this link:

https://lgaevents.local.gov.uk/lga/frontend/reg/thome.csp?pageID=307753&eventID=902&CSPCHD=0000010000009JOkQfn1jxb1AxDrSTbZH7KoQEEg8i_Nck8eh9

You will see on the forum that the Chairman has asked for members views on the draft code so that ADSO can submit their own response to the consultation. Please let us have your views as soon as possible.

A reminder that you have until 31st July to get your nominations in for Team of the Year and Rookie of the Year for the ADSO Awards. More details are available under the events tab on the front page of the ADSO website.

Recent posts on the forum this week have included:

Six month rule
Members Support – Eyes Tests and Glasses
Voting at virtual full council
Privacy of phone numbers in Microsoft Teams meetings

John Lynch
ADSO Finance Director

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